D. Joe Olmi

Children With Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Review of the Literature on Social Skills Deficits

Social interactions between children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) and their teachers, peers, and parents are discussed. The extent to which these interactions may be termed problematic may depend on the social skills deficits displayed by this population. Although the general trend in the liternature has been to examine and describe children with deficient social skills, changing the focus to children with AD/HD who are not experiencing these difficulties may prove beneficial. A review of the previous literature is discussed, as well as suggestions for practice and future research needs.

Time-In/Time-Out as a Response to Noncompliance and Inappropriate Behavior with Children with Developmental Disabilities: Two Case Studies.

Time-in and time-out were used to treat inappropriate and noncompliant behaviors in a child with severe language disabilities and a child with a moderate mental disability and cerebral palsy. The target behaviors for Jeremy were compliance with first-time presented teacher instructions, elopement and aggression. Prior to intervention, archival baseline data for Jeremy suggested a compliance rate with teacher directives of approximately 9% and a high frequency of elopement and aggression. Following implementation of a compliance training package, compliance to teacher directives increased to 97% within the first week of intervention and minimal instances of elopement and aggression. Two, 24, and 40-week follow-up compliance checks yielded mean rates of 98%, 99%, and 98% respectively and no elopement or aggression. Reduction in object tossing behaviors was targeted for Jenny. Archival baseline, indicated through parent report, suggested tossing rates of 80% of the times objects were in hand. Frequency of object tossing behavior decreased to a near-zero level during intervention. The use of this intervention package with children in an effort to deter future chronic noncompliance and inappropriate behavior is discussed.

Effective Instruction Delivery and Time-In: Positive Procedures for Achieving Child Compliance.

ABSTRACT The purpose of the study was to assess whether increases in compliance could be obtained in a clinic setting by using only positive procedures such as effective instruction delivery (EID) and time-in (TI). Participants were from a university-based school psychology clinic who had percentages of compliance to first-time-presented instructions of 40% or less. Each parent, trained to implement EID and TI, was assessed using a multiple baseline crossover design. Both EID and TI alone achieved increases in compliance over baseline levels and additional increases were observed when the two procedures were combined. Implications of the present use of positive behavior management procedures in the treatment of noncompliance are discussed.

An empirical investigation of time-out with and without escape extinction to treat escape-maintained noncompliance.

The present study evaluates the effectiveness of two time-out (TO) procedures in reducing escape-maintained noncompliance of 4 children. Noncompliant behavioral function was established via a functional assessment (FA), including indirect and direct descriptive procedures and brief confirmatory experimental analyses. Following FA, parents were taught to consequate noncompliance with two different TO procedures, one without and one with escape extinction following TO release. Although results indicate TO without escape extinction is effective in increasing compliance above baseline levels, more optimal levels of compliance were obtained for all 4 children when escape extinction was added to the TO procedures already in place. Results indicate efficacy of TO with escape extinction when applied to escape-maintained noncompliance and are discussed as an initial example of the successful application of TO to behaviors maintained by negative reinforcement.

The Effects of Check-In/Check-Out on Problem Behavior and Academic Engagement in Elementary School Students.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of Check-in/Check-out (CICO) for improving behavioral performance for three students referred for Tier 2 behavioral supports. An ABAB withdrawal design was used to evaluate CICO and results indicate that intervention was effective for reducing problem behavior as well as increasing academic engagement for all students as evidenced by direct observation of students’ behavior. Following effective implementation of CICO, a fading process was introduced that included use of Mystery Motivator (MM). Results indicate that MM successfully maintained behavioral performance for two of the three students. In addition, for one student, intervention was further faded such that self-monitoring replaced teacher ratings and feedback for behavior. Results are discussed in terms of CICO research and practice.

Positive Antecedent and Consequent Components in Child Compliance Training.

This study evaluates the effects of positive antecedent (effective instruction delivery and time-in) and consequent components (contingent praise) on the compliance of 4 children in a clinic setting. Results suggest that the use of effective instruction delivery alone increased compliance above baseline levels for the 4 children and that the additions of time-in and contingent praise further increased compliance for 3 of the 4 children. All three positive treatment components resulted in compliance greater than 80% for all children. Compliance levels were maintained at 1-month follow-up for 2 children. Results are discussed in terms of the benefits to using all of the positive components in compliance training.

The Sequential Introduction of Positive Antecedent and Consequent Components in a Compliance Training Package With Elementary Students

We evaluated the separate and combined effects of the antecedent manipulations of effective instruction delivery and time-in, as well as the effects of the addition of the consequent manipulation of contingent praise in a compliance training package for four elementary students displaying low levels of compliance. Four teachers were trained to introduce these components sequentially in multiple baseline across-participants designs for each of two pairs of students. All students increased compliance from below 40% during baseline to between 84% and 96% in the final treatment phase. Support was demonstrated for the separate and independent effects of the positive antecedent components of effective instruction delivery and time-in, when used alone and in combination. The addition of contingent praise either increased compliance slightly or maintained it at already high levels. Treatment integrity and implications for practitioners and school personnel are discussed, including the effectiveness and simplicity of these procedures, while also offering positive, non-coercive approaches to increasing student compliance.

Generalization of a Positive Treatment Package for Child Noncompliance

ABSTRACT Using a multiple baseline across 3 mother/child dyads, a treatment package containing only the positive components of effective instruction delivery (EID) and time-in (TI) is shown to be effective in achieving acceptable levels of child compliance in clinic and home settings. Mothers were able to master the components of both EID and TI in the clinic. Skill mastery in the home increased for EID, but varied for TI. The potential benefit of additional programming to facilitate generalization of parent skills to the home is discussed.

Using Antecedent Manipulations to Distinguish Between Task and Social Variables Associated With Problem Behaviors Exhibited by Children of Typical Development

In the antecedent functional assessment literature, researchers have introduced task demands and social attention simultaneously while varying the level of task difficulty. Though research has demonstrated situations in which a combination of social and task antecedents occasion socially avoidant responses from children with disabilities, no current studies have been offered to assess the impact of high levels of adult attention devoid of task demands on problem behaviors exhibited by children of typical development. A multiple element design was used to assess the specific effects of task and social antecedents on the problem behaviors of four children of typical development. Results identified two children whose behaviorwas associated with a combination of difficult task demands and attention in the form of commands and redirections and two children whose behavior was associated only with high levels of adult attention that did not include commands or redirections. These results suggest that antecedent functional assessment procedures can assess the impact of high levels of attention without the presence of task demands.

Time-out with Parents: A Descriptive Analysis of 30 Years of Research

The current data-based review encompasses 30 years of research involving parental use of time-out (TO). Although extensively researched for decades, parental usage of TO continues to vary widely across a number of procedural variables. As such, the current review provides descriptive data for 40 articles published between 1977 and 2007 along both participant-related and TO procedural variables. Although results indicate wide parental usage of TO as a behavior management strategy, the application of specific procedural variables remains diverse and often unable to be ascertained. Based on current data, the review also includes specific practitioner recommendations and cautions in easily accessible bulleted form related to parental use of TO.